Which is for You - Blended or Varietal Wines?

Novice wine lovers soon come across concept of blended and varietal wines. The two questions that spring to mind are, “what does it mean?” and “does it matter?”

At basic level, difference is quite simple. Varietal wines are made from a single grape variety, while blended wines are made using two or more. The most obvious example is difference between two great red wine styles of France. Burgundy red wine is composed of single variety Pinot noir. Bordeaux red wines are most often blends of up to five varieties, Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit verdot. There are a few Bordeaux wines made from a single variety, but they are exceptions that prove rule.

So much for theory. The distinction between varietal and blended wines is less clear in practice. Many varietal wines are made from blends of wine grown in several regions. Australia’s iconic Grange is such an example. Each year hundreds of samples from many vineyards are tasted and evaluated before final blend is decided upon. The result is a blend of regions, rather than varieties.

Many more modest Australian wines with to fame are also regional blends. The process of selecting blend is similar but much more simplified. The clue on label is often words “wine of South Eastern Australia.” This is almost as general a statement that you can get about origins of an Australian wine.

Making Chinese Tea

Written by Wong Yee Lee

Chinese Tea

Chinese tea - water quality The quality of tea is controlled by quality of water. It was said in ancient China that water is mother of tea. There are three categories of water: best is water from a hill, average is water from river, bottom is water from a well. The best water from a hill is on a hilltop; best water from a river is in middle of a river; best water from a well is from a well which is frequently used. It is not easy to get water from a hill. So water from a tap is most common. There are two ways to make best use of tap water when making tea. 1. Leave tap water in a bucket for 24 hours in order to let out chlorine inside. 2. Boil water then open lid for 5 minutes in order to let out chlorine inside. Distilled water is a kind of artificial soft water. It is most hygiene but it would not be ideal water for making tea.

Best water temperature for making tea: 1. Low temperature (70 - 80c) Good for making young shoot green tea such as Long Jing (Dragon Well) or yellow tea (Silver Needle). 2. Medium temperature (80 - 90c) Good for making white tea (Silver Needle White Fur), red tea or Oolong. 3. High temperature (90 - 100c) Good for making tea such as Tie Guan Yin (Iron Guan Yin), Pu'er, Shui Xian (Water Fairy). Low temperature water tends to be more suitable for young tea leaves while high temperature water tends to be more suitable for ripe tea leaves.

Chinese tea - tea leaves Chinese tea used to be categorized by its place of origin or place where it went to. Only till recently that Chinese tea is categorized based on its way of manufacture.

6 types of tea: Green, yellow, black, white, light green and red.

Green tea Green tea has longest history and it can be dated over 3000 years ago. People picked young shoots of leaves and dried it in sun without fermentation.

Examples of green tea: Long Jing Fur Tip Green Spring Snail

Yellow tea Yellow tea is to ferment tea leaves before they are totally dry. A degree of 10% to 20% fermentation would be expected.

Examples of yellow tea: Silver Needle Yellow Soup Big Leaf Green

Black tea Black tea is to ferment tea leaves to a degree of 100%. It is a kind of commonly consumed tea in Mongolia.